Should U.S. Coach Bob Bradley be fired if the Americans fail to win the Gold Cup on June 25 at Pasadena’s Rose Bowl?

The question was prompted by a regular reader of this column upset with the U.S. displays last Tuesday in the 1-0 loss to Paraguay in Nashville, Tenn., and the 1-1 tie with Argentina three days earlier in New York.

“They were hard teams for us to play against and we learn from these games,” Bradley said. “Hopefully we take a lot away from them in terms of team stuff and also individual performances.”

In terms of “team stuff,” the two games didn’t tell us much we didn’t already know about a Bradley-coached U.S. team.

The U.S. has a brittle defense prone to sloppy, basic errors, a midfield lacking in creativity and imagination and an easily blunted attack with little incisive cut and thrust. And were it not for world-class goalkeeper Tim Howard – whom will the U.S. turn to in the not so distant future when the 32-year-old calls it a day? – the Americans surely would have conceded more goals against Argentina.

When it comes to individual performances, it was perhaps telling the most impressive displays by outfield players came from German-born right back Timmy Chandler, 21, and Colombian-born striker Juan Aguedelo, 18, neither of whom have been around the U.S. setup long, which might be their biggest advantage.

Chandler, who made his debut against Argentina when he replaced Jonathan Spector at halftime and had his first start against Paraguay, provided sparkling offensive forays in both games rarely seen from more experienced American full backs.

The teenager Aguedelo scored his second goal in only his third U.S. game against Argentina and outshined the likes of Jozy Altidore against Paraguay, demonstrating a willingness, confidence and ability to run at defenders unusual for an American forward.

Neither team was as weak as virtually all the opponents the U.S. will face during the Gold Cup, the regional championship for nations from North and Central America and the Caribbean.

A draw with Argentina, one of the strongest soccer nations on the planet that stars the world’s best player, Lionel Messi, is certainly a creditable result under any circumstances.

And Paraguay proved last year it is no slouch either after reaching the World Cup quarterfinals, only to fall to eventual winners Spain.

But Argentina’s total domination of the U.S. in the first 45 minutes of the game was also unacceptable, while the lumbering and limited displays produced by center backs Jay DeMerit and Oguchi Onyewu had fans fretting every time Messi and Co. swarmed forward.

Against Paraguay, the U.S. gave up yet another early goal – another distinctive hallmark of Bradley’s U.S. teams – that allowed the visitors to dictate the tempo of the game and put the U.S. on their back foot after the18th-minute strike.

Want more reasons to worry?

Mexico, the likely U.S. opponents in the Gold Cup final, easily disposed of Paraguay 3-1 in the Bay Area on the same day the Americans faced Argentina.

The U.S. has scored just three goals in the past five games while going winless on home soil for six games, the longest such streak since 1998 when the Americans were coached by Steve Sampson.

Merely invoking the name of the coach responsible for the 1998 World Cup disaster and who remains a pariah to many American fans should be a concern to Bradley.

The U.S. plays a better class of opponent these days than it generally did in the late 1990s – next up is Spain on June 4, just three days before the Gold Cup starts – but nevertheless most of the “team stuff” and individual performances seen in the past two games is not up to snuff.

To be fair the U.S. is a team in transition, especially on defense.

The likes of former UCLA defender Carlos Bocanegra, who turns 32 in May and DeMerit, 31, likely won’t be around on the international level by the time the 2014 World Cup arrives, while injuries and a lack of playing time over the past two years have Onyewu seeming older than the 29 years he will turn next month.

But the world of international football is an unforgiving one. And almost a year on from a generally unimpressive World Cup that had many fans – and this columnist – calling for Bradley’s head, it doesn’t appear there’s been much headway made in correcting many of the same deficiencies that made that tournament so underwhelming for the U.S.

Much more of this and the question won’t be whether Bradley will be fired for failing to win the Gold Cup this summer, but whether the U.S. will make the final of the tournament at all.

Veteran journalist Nick Green is the beat reporter for the cities of Torrance, Carson and Lomita and also covers the South Bay's rapidly growing craft beer industry for the Daily Breeze. He has worked for newspapers on the West Coast since graduating in 1987 from the University of Washington and lives in Old Torrance with his wife and two cats. Follow him on Twitter @NickGreen007 and @BeerGogglesLA.